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On Sunday, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray had taken shots at the affairs of the Bollywood film fraternity, while urging the opposition to unite for a Modi-mukt Bharat. Not only did he criticise the government for giving a state funeral to the late actress Sridevi, but he also questioned Akshay Kumar ’s nationality, claiming that his recent films like Toilet Ek Prem Katha and PadMan were simply covert propaganda by the government to further their schemes.
“Akshay Kumar is not even an Indian citizen. He holds a Canadian passport and Wikipedia describes him as an Indian-born Canadian actor,” he said while addressing his party workers at a rally. However, PadMan director R. Balki replied to the MNS chief, defending his work.
R. Balki, whose film PadMan is based on the life of social entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham, says a biopic cannot be part of any propaganda. “My film is based on someone’s life, so it obviously cannot be anybody’s propaganda. I don’t know what he [Thackeray] has stated, but these films are important,” Balki said.
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